Guinness Book of World Records Adds Bitcoin; but Why?

Bitcoin, a cryptocurrency and blockchain network created by Satoshi Nakamoto, has won numerous awards and been acknowledged by traditional media outlets over the years. For instance, the word “bitcoin” was included in the Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary in 2016 and the Scrabble dictionary two years later. Since Satoshi Nakamoto created bitcoin, it has been recognised by Guinness World Records (GWR) as the “first decentralized cryptocurrency.”

For 67 years, Guinness World Records has been formally compiling records of extraordinary human accomplishments and natural occurrences. Records show that in December 1955, the first edition of Guinness World Records was the best-selling book. Still, the book contains a sizable library and verification of world records connected to different actions and record-breaking accomplishments. Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of the Guinness Brewery, is credited with having first proposed the concept of compiling a book of records.

The project’s white paper was published online in 2008, according to the summary of bitcoin found in the most recent Guinness World Records. According to the Guinness authors, bitcoin was “developed as a solution to the challenge of regulating a digital currency without any centralized organization, or ‘trusted third party,’ to oversee transactions.” The GWR authors go on to explain how Satoshi Nakamoto’s network solves the issue of double spending. According to the 2022 GWR record:

The “trustless” approach used by the Bitcoin network to address the double spend issue prevents the need for external parties (such as banks) to confirm transactions (i.e., miners, in PoW.) Miners are machines that are devoted to the network and are used to verify all transactions and block any malicious users.

“First,” as in “the first decentralized cryptocurrency,” is the category GWR scholars assign to Bitcoin. On January 3, 2009, the day Bitcoin was introduced, the record-breaking “first” was officially set. Despite the fact that the GWR extension is a success, some of the information provided by GWR researchers is inaccurate.

For instance, it incorrectly lists October 31, 2008 as the date the initial Bitcoin white paper was published and claims that Satoshi Nakamoto possesses 600,000 BTC in a single wallet that “has been idle for more than a decade.” This information is untrue because Nakamoto’s cryptocurrency holdings are spread across multiple wallets, not just one, and instead of the 600,000 BTC that GWR claims, the inventor holds an estimated 1 million BTC.